Friday, July 08, 2011

Red Basket (Bon Marché)

After walking around Bon Marché; we got hungry. Walking around we walked in front of Red Basket...Vietnamese restaurant. My friend told me that he knew about this restaurant because he has seen their other branch in Central World. I have not had Vietnamese food in a long time so it was time to have some of it again.

The restaurant is large and it's on the corner of a large side building overlooking the large water fountain. The restaurant has enormous glass windows , which filled the restaurant with tons of natural light. With three main eating areas there's plenty of seating (inside & outside).

It does not have the typical or expected Vietnamese paintings with natural scenes of Vietnam or with Vietnamese girls dressed in their Áo Dài (thank goodness). It actually can be any type of restaurant with its decor, its simple with basic colours of beige, brown and yellow. The light theme is carried on throughout the restaurant, with beige tiles on the floor and yellowish wood accents around the restaurant. The dark wood tables and chairs added contrast to the light colours.

The table setting is simple; but we were reminded immediately that we were in a Vietnamese restaurant when they placed a container full of fresh herbs and a small dish of nước chấm fish sauce condiment dipping sauce.

The starter was Bánh cuốn...steamed Vietnamese ravioli (80 baht). The raviolis arrived steaming hot. The rice skin was moist & soft, the filling for ground pork & minced wood ear mushrooms and was tasty due to herbs and spices. For more texture & flavour the raviolis were topped with deep fried shallots and chả lụa (Vietnamese sausage). Really satisfying.

My main dishes was Bún thịt nướng...Vietnamese rice noodle with bbq pork (90 baht). One of my all time favourite dishes due to its simplicity yet also due to its complication in the blend of flavours; sweet, sour, spicy, herbs & smoky bbq as well as in the textures; soft, crunchy, crispness, smooth & rough. So so good.

My friend's main dish was Phở bo...beef phở (90 baht). The phở had a good taste & flavour as well as having a good portion of rice noodles and the beef was semi-raw (a very good thing). It was a decent made phở. I am very very very finicky about my phở; but, the one at Red Basket is not bad at all.

Overall; nothing to complain about. The food was not bad at all. The food arrived very quickly, it was presented nicely and it tasted good. The service was efficient and prices were reasonable. I probably would go more often if there was a branch closer to my home.